As mentioned in a previous post, I finally got the chance to explore Carbury Castle. This has been on my bucket list for almost a year now. I had attempted to locate it unsuccessfully, so I with a little help from satellite imagery I was delighted to finally track the location and spend some time here. Located on Carbury Hill, which is also sometimes referred to as Fairy Hill, is situated in Kildare close to the Offaly border. The hill was at the center of the ancient territory known as Cairbre Uí Chiardha and is believed to have been a site of human occupation and activity dating back several millennia andsteeped in Irish history from the Bronze age right through to the 1798 rebellion. The O’Ciarda where a sept of the Uí Néill clan and were believed to be direct descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages, a 5th century King of Ireland. Carbury was named from Cairbre, Son of Niall.

The motte on the hill was more than likely built by Meiler FitzHenry who was granted lands in the area by Strongbow after the Norman conquest of Ireland. It was later acquired by the de Berminghams in the 14th century, before being taken back by the native Irish in the 15th century. The lands then reverted back into Crown hands.

The current Queen of England, Elizabeth, has a strong personal connection to county Kildare, as some of her ancestors were from the county. One of the most noteworthy of her Kildare ancestors was Richard Colley-Wellesley who was born in Carbury Castle circa 1690. Six generations of the Queen’s Colley ancestors lived in Carbury Castle, beginning with Sir Henry Colley. He had acquired the leasehold of Carbury in 1538 during the reign of King Henry VIII. Then in 1569 he was granted the Manor of Carbury by Queen Elizabeth I. It was Henry who remodeled the Castle in the style of the Elizabethan period, and today the striking ruins of Carbury Castle can be seen on an elevated site,the extension to the east of the building included the four prominent chimney stacks and large mullioned windows.. Henry also built the Colley mortuary chapel close to his residence, and it is here where he rests with several other Colley ancestors of the Queen.

The large stronghouse they built on the hilltop in the 17th century now lies in crumbling ruin.The ruins now lie in pastoral land and the gate which leads to Carbury hill has a warning sign, ‘By Invitation Only’, so please seek permission before proceeding. On the walk up the will you can see a stunning little L shaped ruin and graveyard to the left. This is the family plot of the Colley family and contains the ruins of a small chapel and Mausoleum.

The ruins have to be seen close up to truly appreciated the actual size of the structure. Although some walls have collapsed over time, this ruin still commands a great presence over the surrounding countryside. Inside the structure the lower levels appear to have been barrel vaulted. There are no stairs remaining in the rectangle structure but it is possible to reach higher ground in areas. Pay close attention when exploring the lower level as it the vaulted roof was crumbling and may give way at any stage.

After spending a while here soaking in the history and taking some images I began to get that all to familiar feeling that I get from time to time. Sometimes it is pleasant but on this occasion it was not. I call this my spidey sense and whilst I do not always understand what it means, I will always listen to it. So I packed up my kit and said farewell. Which was probably a good idea as it was now getting late. I have heard that close by their lies a well-known as the Trinity well which is said to be the source of the river Boyne. Yet again, though I had spent most of the evening on Carbury Hill, so I was unable to locate the well. So Mausoleum.It will have to go on my ever increasing bucket list. If anyone has any information on the trinity well or knows how to get there, I would love to hear from you.

Its funny you should mention about the feeling you got there (spidy senses ) i grew up in derriturn few mile down from the castle and when we were kids we used to spend some days up there chasing each other ,but every time we would stop we,d get the feeling an uneasy feeling hard to explain haha

Well, those pictures are a gift for any gothic fiction writers out there! I love that style, mildly menacing (have you seen the paperback covers for Phil Rickman’s Merrily Watkins books – perhaps you should do the next one) . Most of the ruins with public access around here, have been stripped of the overgrowth, but seeing walls covered in ivy certainly lends an extra frisson.

Fascinating! Another ruin that looks in a dangerous state, and the photos seem to do justice to the long history. I know how some ancient places have a welcoming ‘feel’, while others don’t – and some don’t have any atmosphere at all.

Nice series – on the tech side, do you shoot in color and convert to B&W? If you, do you do the conversion in Photoshop>Adjustments>Black and White or just convert to greyscale? I use the former, but everyone has a different approach. I shoot in RAW and then do layer masking in P/S.

Thanks Rob, Yes I normally shoot in color because I ust never know what way a photo will end up, and I always shoot RAW. I think this is only my second proper mono set, prior to that I was using alot of sepia toning, but I just wanted to try something different. still trying to perfect it. And yes I convert from B&W Adjustments in PS6. I really love your IR shots. Do you use an IR camera or are they conversions. That and HDR are something im still a bit nervous about.

Thanks for the info – yes, I use a lifepixel converted D100 – I bracket +1, 0 -1 stops when I shoot (in RAW) – then do a channel swap red/blue and a levels adjustment. Most of the time that’s it – when I go B&W I too use the B&W adjustment control in PS – Some older cameras will shoot IR without conversion, but the exposures are are real roll of the proverbial dice…read up and then give it a try – Your locations seem to beg for IR shots!

I was hoping you’d have some pics of the well, it’s also called Tobar Segais, Connla’s Well and the Well of Wisdom… it’s the source of the Boyne, and where the salmon of Knowledge ate the hazel nuts in mythology…

Of course not! All I know is that its at the bottom of Carbury Hill. Saw a picture though. Not what I expected. Its been built over like holy wells often are. I was kind of expecting something like the Sbannon Pot.

Ok, what where you expecting the fountain of youth😃 Over the centuries the landscape would have changed dramatically. Mainly as a result of those pesky humans. Chances are. This was once a natural spring and it might well have been more like a pond than a well. I’ve been having a quick glance at some satellite imagery but don’t se any sign of it on the hill itself. There is one down the road from Cadbury on the national monuments service website, but I’m not sure if it’s the one we are looking for. I’ll make some inquiries and let you know. I know a few people that specialise in holy wells